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Facial Tension and Personality
There is a perpetual clenching squirming and cringing going on behind our faces that robs us of
our facial poise The muscles tighten when we are at the gym when embarrassed or when the
phone rings We should see this as gratuitous affectation Micrometabolic studies of the
anatomy of your facial musculature would reveal that some facial muscles hold more tension
than others Everyone has a different pattern of tension involving different parts of the face
These patterns are as distinct as fingerprints Some people may have tighter lips and others
tighter foreheads Even the three auricular muscles surrounding the ears hold tremendous
tension in some people but not in others
Young infants faces show high base rates of random combinatorial activity enabling
parents to shape a repertoire of conventional displays Infants more or less unconsciously
assess the feedback that people give them and alter their facial patterns accordingly Trial
error and trauma program young children to brace their eyes cheeks and jaws in certain ways
This in turn distributes tension to different anatomical areas and results in a unique pattern of
chronic muscular contractions
believe that these distinct patterns have strong associations with different features of
personality For instance am convinced that people who hold trigger points and shortening in
the muscle between the eyebrows the procerus which causes the brow to furrow into a
frown are more keenly possessed by anger These people wear a lowgrade menacing glower
that can contaminate their minds Any form of facial tension tarnishes our thinking to
some degree
Have you ever noticed that a friends face can change drastically if they go through a
prolonged period of grieving Again this is due to tension and without massage it will never
totally reverse even after the persons reason for mourning subsides believe that the blow to
the face experienced as a teenager made me an inveterate sneerer Similarly the peasized
knot that had one centimeter below each eye made me a perpetual squinter Where do you
hold your facial tension
Facial Activity Warming the Face in a Hot Shower
The next time you shower turn the heat up not enough to hurt and place your face under
the showerhead Allow your face to heat up for a full seconds After a minute turn the
water off completely and focus all your attention on your face This is the perfect time to try
to contract and relax your facial muscles because heated muscles work differently on a
cellular level in a way that you are not accustomed to You will notice how the tension is
amplified and that it contorts your face You have about a minute to analyze the experience
before it cools enough that the sensations end This will pinpoint what you should be trying
to relax
You can also use a facial mask to get instant biofeedback about the tension in your face
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
Facial Activity Using a Facial Mask
Facial masks are usually made of clay mud creams or paper cutouts They are marketed as
products that improve the appearance of the face People who use them claim they hydrate
the skin and remove excess oils They also happen to be a powerful form of biofeedback that
should be taken advantage of by women and men alike After the mask begins to dry it sticks
to your skin making any movement that your face makes highly noticeable You will sense
resistance from the mask from any facial stress that you hold Using a facial mask and trying
to minimize any facial tension while employing a breath metronome can be an immensely
powerful healing experience It will teach you to breathe easily while expressionless
Master Expressionlessness and Own Your Face
The most important step in relaxing the facial muscles is to learn how to make a face with
absolutely no expression To do this you must allow your face to go dead by turning your face
off at the source At first this will look offputting and very unattractive Expressionlessness is
the visage that many of us try to avoid making because it can convey exhaustion and disdain
Withholding your customary facial bracing can make you look evil cruel or irate was inspired
to try expressionlessness after seeing my friend with schizophrenia on tranquilizers and
sedatives The physical ravages of stress and heavy facial bracing were more apparent than ever
because they were contrasted with his complete facial limpness He looked burned out and
completely out of touch with reality We all fear the social consequences of looking that way
But our face can never truly rest unless we do
The strange truth is that this hideous nonexpressive face is actually the most beautiful
version of you waiting to emerge The ghastly aspect is only due to the incongruity between the
relaxation and the trigger points Once the trigger points are gone the relaxation will look
natural Practicing expressionlessness using the exercises in this chapter will get rid of the active
trigger points and using the facial massage techniques in the next chapter will get rid of the
latent ones
Working on your expressionless face will be difficult at first You have to teach yourself to
turn off each portion of your face individually It will help to focus on relaxing the muscles
around your eyes relaxing your cheeks and allowing your jaw to gape and go slack Think of it
as an extension of corpse posea corpse face Focus especially hard on maintaining it when
you are by yourself and before you go to sleep You want to sleep every night as if every muscle
in your face jaw and throat are paralyzed How you look at yourself in the mirror is also
decisive When we look in the mirror we usually don our customary social mask Instead
ensure that your expression is not tense and that you dont grimace sneer squint or raise your
eyebrows
When you look at the ground your face is capable of becoming very calm It is easy to be
calm when looking down because you are not challenging anyone when your gaze is below
their eye line However when you look up again this calmness disappears in fear of offending
someone In the next activity dont let it disappear
Chapter Reprogram Facial Tension
Facial Exercise Conserving the Calm
Look down at the ground by lowering your eyes and head toward the floor Next try to look
completely relaxed It may take a few seconds for you to configure this Then try to
maintain this same face as you look up It will be challenging at first but keep working on it
This should be your default facial posture You may want to try this a different way Lie down
close your eyes and make the face you usually make during sleep Then sit up straight with
your eyes open wide wearing the exact same sleeping face For this to work you must
completely let down your customary guard
We walk around with tense faces because we are concerned that if someone sees our
expressionless face they will assume we are angry But when actually affronted we feel
entitled to be able to drop all formalities Many people are only expressionless when angry
noticed this one day when became outraged and suddenly all the social facial tension had
been trying to let go of disappeared on its own
Facial Activity Feigned Anger
Pretend a friend informs you that some other people said something derogatory about you
that you do not deserve For the first time in a long time you dont care what anyone thinks
about the way your face looks at the moment You are mad You are full of righteous
indignation Allow yourself to appear so cold sullen and uninviting that it makes bystanders
shiver You want a carnivorous look that says Ill eat you Dont make an angry face just
allow your anger to drain all pleasantries from your face Feel this absorb it Now strip the
negativity from it and make it your own
The indignation and anger you used in the exercise above are negative emotions so dont